Dentistry students showcase work at annual showcase

Cleidy Arboleda-Lopez presents her research at the College of Dentistry’s Clinic and Research Day March 6. Photo: Joshua Clark/UIC Photo Services

More than 200 students showed off their research projects March 6 at the College of Dentistry’s annual Clinic and Research Day.

Undergraduate, graduate, predoctoral and doctoral students presented posters and case studies on their work during the event. Projects varied from public health studies to enzyme-related research.

The event helped sophomore Jasmine Liu take a peek into her future.

“Having the opportunity to work with graduate students and learning about what other innovative research is uncovering is eye opening,” said Liu, a kinesiology major in Guaranteed Professional Programs Admissions for dentistry.

“It’s crazy that we’re going to be in their shoes just a couple years from now.”

Richard Valachovic, president and chief executive officer of the American Dental Education Association, delivered the keynote, “Dentistry in a New Era of Collaboration in Health Professions Education and Research.”

Valachovic focused his address on how changes in medicine and pharmacy will impact dentistry. The future requires greater collaboration among health care practitioners to deliver a higher standard of care, he said.

“We are in a time where we must embrace every health field and collaborate to bring the best care to our patients,” he said. “This means learning from our past ways and transitioning to the future.”

The College of Dentistry is diverse — more than half of the students are female and there is no ethnic minority.

“We hope to make students educated not just in the clinical aspects of dentistry, but also to mold them into the leaders of health policy for decades to come,” said Bill Knight, interim dean of the College of Dentistry.